Rural regeneration plan launched by Taoiseach

COMMITMENT Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Heather Humphreys TD, is following up on the Town and Village Renewal Scheme launched last summer.

Áine Ryan

GOVERNMENT’S new action plan for rural development, ‘Realising our Rural Potential’ may be full of ‘good intentions’ but much of it has been promised before. That is according to Fianna FΡil’s spokesman on Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Dara Calleary, who, while welcoming ‘any plan to assist rural Ireland’ expressed his ‘scepticism’ to The Mayo News about many of the promised ‘276 actions’, announced by Taoiseach Enda Kenny and his ministers in Longford yesterday (Monday).
Reacting to the announcement also, Sinn Féin’s Senator Rose Conway-Walsh observed that the promised €60 million extra funding, over three years, for all of rural Ireland would disappear very quickly if the monies were just used to upgrade the R312 between Belmullet and Castlebar. It is projected to cost €50 million.
The plan is ‘the first ever whole-of-government strategy aimed at delivering real change for people living and working in rural Ireland’, according to a Government statement released yesterday. It says the objective is ‘to unlock the potential of rural Ireland through a framework of supports at national and local level, which will ensure that people who live in rural areas have increased opportunities for employment locally, and access to public services and social networks that support a high quality of life’.
The plan’s 276 actions encompass five key pillars: supporting sustainable communities and  enterprise and employment; maximising rural tourism and recreation potential; fostering culture and creativity in rural communities; improving rural infrastructure and connectivity.
 
Failed to deliver
Deputy Calleary cited the fact that the delivery of such developments as broadband, flooding reliefs and increased garda numbers have already been announced for rural communities.
“It also contains other commitments on FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) that the government have failed to deliver on for many years. When you place this alongside Minister Simon Coveney’s intention to develop the cities of the country through the National Planning Framework, my scepticism increases. I intend to monitor this plan closely to ensure speedy delivery of its actions and am especially looking forward to the detail on the town renewal scheme,” he said.
Meanwhile, Senator Conway-Walsh stressed ‘the need for action rather than lofty reports in order to tackle the many issues still facing rural Ireland’.
“Forgive me if I don’t get excited about yet another plan for rural Ireland.This is the latest in a long line of plans that have failed to provide us with even the most basic  infrastructure such as roads, telecommunications and broadband coverage. People like me living in rural Ireland are acutely aware of what is needed to address the savage neglect of rural areas by successive governments,” she told The Mayo News.

Revitalisation of rural Ireland
SPEAKING at yesterday’s launch, Taoiseach Enda Kenny said: “The development and revitalisation of rural Ireland is a key priority in the programme for a partnership government. We can do more and do better to drive the creative spirit of rural Ireland for the benefit of everybody, young and old alike. This is the aim of our Action Plan for Rural Development, to unlock both the economic and social potential of rural Ireland.  We will ensure that local communities have increased opportunities for jobs, and access to public services and social networks that support a high quality of life.”
The plan aims to support the creation of 135,000 new jobs in rural Ireland by 2020; to invest €50m for collaborative approaches to job creation in the regions; increase Foreign Direct Investment in regional areas by up to 40 percent.